General design aspects of a 300 MVA superconducting generator for utility application

Development of a 300 MVA electric utility generator with superconducting field winding has been initiated by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation under joint sponsorship with the Electric Power Research Institute. This generator is scheduled to be on line in a U. S. utility by mid-1984 for an extended test and demonstration period. A brief review of the configuration and design features of the 300 MVA machine is given, the emphasis is then shifted to a discussion of the utility environment and its impact on the design of the generator. Specially, system transient events such as faults are covered in terms of their mechanical and thermal consequences for the designer. Finally, the analytical tools and models that are being developed for the present program are discussed.